Yes, I have actually finished one project! We have been so busy putting in infrastructure that it seems none of our projects are Done. Completed. Finished. We get almost done with something and then another part of the farm requires our attention and the first project gets put on hold. Well, that works just fine for the two procrastinating men in my life, but for me......well, let's just say that's enough to drive me around the bend. And as Joel likes to say, "That's a short ride.". Harumph.
Ever since we installed the bird feeder last Spring, I've had an idea in my head about how to create a small flower bed around it. A few weeks ago we had a pallet of local stone delivered so I could start working on some smaller projects over the next year. The bed around the bird feeder was going to be my first experiment working with stone. Ha ha....how hard can it be?
Um, yeah, that's a lot of stone. Well, I figured I may as well just jump in and get started. At least this was one project I could do pretty much on my own. I used my tractor and the green trailer to haul the stones I choose over to the project. I just love my little tractor!
After digging out a shallow trench I laid a row of stones even with the top of the grass in the shape of an oval. Mowing around this oval is much easier than mowing around a 4" post....and it looks prettier, too! Now I can use that first level row of stone to run the tires of my tractor on when I mow and get up nice and close to the bed without having to use the weed eater. Hey, I'm all about creating low maintenance beds here.
The second and third rows of stones were fun to lay....it was like figuring out a jigsaw puzzle. And because the land is sloped where this particular bed lays, one end has only 2 rows of thin stones while the other end has many more. Well, I tried to keep the top of the wall level. This adorable bird bath was a purchase I made very early in the summer. One problem with it was that it needed to be elevated above ground level so the birds would use it. Ta-da! Problem solved. Jeremy pulled a huge tree trunk from a pile in the woods and now the bath is raised up to the perfect height for bathing.
The three plants in the front are sedum and they come back year after year, so I won't have to replant this bed. They will fill out nicely by next year and each fall the flower heads turn a beautiful red. The plant hiding behind the tree stump is a clump of daisies that will also come back each year. I tried to put plants in the bed that won't get too high or too bushy so that the birds feel safe coming to the bird feeder. Birds don't like it when they think their enemy can hide in bushes near their food source....gotta think like a bird to keep them coming back.
In order to get to the bird feeder I put down 2 large stone-topped cement stepping stones. And I had Jeremy help me pour out the bags of river rock to cover up the landscape cloth and fill in the area between the walls. Done! What a feeling of accomplishment that at least now one more project was completely finished.
And the birds seem to be happy with their new digs. Gold finches and blue birds and doves have been visiting the bird feeder and bath ever since the area was completed. I just love watching the birds swooping in from the large oak trees overhead and listening to them chatter to each other as they tell their family it's safe to come and eat.
Not bad, not too bad at all, even if I do say so myself.
Hmmmm, I wonder what kind of trouble I can get myself into today?
Deb
